Paul Turley
(1) Nathan Sudell (2) Hayley
Ahern (2) Allan James (3)
ScotCat
Sources:
Other
Sources:
Relevant
Information:
Often misadentified as K.
bicirrhis which grows
larger and is not often seen in the hobby. This species
was also thought to be K. minor which has
been exported extensively over the past 30 years but
is only found in Borneo. Due to the work carried out
by Ng & Kottelat this year (2013) this species
has now been renamed as K. vitreolus. Abstract:
Despite being known to aquarists and scientists since
1934 (Sterba, 1970), the exact identity of the glass
catfish has not been thoroughly investigated. The
present study resolves this deficiency, in the course
of which we discovered that the glass catfish is neither
K. bicirrhis nor K. minor, but an unnamed
species that we describe herein as K. vitreolus.
K. vitreolus can be told apart from K.
minor, K. piperatus and all other K.
bicirrhis group members by the following combination
of characters: snout length 29–35 % HL; eye
diameter 28–34 % HL; body depth at anus 16–20
% SL; depth of caudal peduncle 4–7 % SL; maxillary
barbels extending beyond base of first anal-fin ray;
dorsal profile with pronounced nuchal concavity; 14–18
rakers on the first gill arch; 48–55 anal-fin
rays. Aquarium Care: Keep them in
a reasonably large tank, well planted at the back
and sides, and with a good flowing current from your
filter to imitate its habitat. It is a good community
fish and will not eat or harass other fish unless
they are small enough to be eaten, i.e.fry. Diet:
Will except flake food but does relish small livefood
such as Daphnia and brineshrimp. This catfish is not
too good at collecting food from the aquarium floor,
so feed as you would for Characins & Barbs etc.
Etymology: The species
name, vitreolus, means 'of glass’,
in reference to the transparent appearance of this
species.
Common
Name:
Ghost Catfish, Asian Glass
Catfish
Synonyms:
None
Family:
Siluridae
Distribution:
Asia:Known only from a series of coastal river
basins of Peninsular Thailand draining into the Gulf
of Thailand south of the Isthmus of Kra, plus a handful
of rivers draining the Cardamom (Khao Banthat) Mountains
in southeastern Thailand. Type locality:
Thailand: Trat Province, Amphoe Khao Saming.
Size:
7.0cm. (2¾ins)
Temp:
24-28°C (75-83°F)
p.H.
6.0-8.0.
Reference:
Ng, H-H. and M. Kottelat,
2013 - Zootaxa 3630: 308-316 After eighty
years of misidentification, a name for the glass catfish
(Teleostei: Siluridae). ScotCat
Factsheet no.
45. March 2000.
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